U.S. Livestream Shopping Market Forecast to Hit $20 Billion in 2026 as TikTok and Whatnot Drive Growth

The U.S. livestream shopping industry is on track to reach nearly $20 billion in sales this year — roughly 35% higher than 2025 — as platforms like TikTok Shop and Whatnot pull more sellers and buyers into live commerce, according to eMarketer estimates.

That figure represents more than double the market's size in 2024, reflecting a rapid acceleration that industry observers say is being fueled by younger consumers increasingly turning to live video to discover and purchase products.

TikTok Shop, which launched in the United States in 2023, shared that live shopping sales more than doubled in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. The number of live shopping sessions rose by more than 60% during that window, and total live hours grew by more than 80%, the company said.

Whatnot, founded in 2019 on novelties and collectibles, recently reached a $20 billion valuation — double its valuation from October — and ranked No. 8 on the 2026 CNBC Disruptor 50 list. The company reported $8 billion in global sales for 2025, with a majority of that volume originating in the United States, though the company declined to provide a domestic breakdown.

"It feels like things are really, really clicking and live shopping is becoming a bit more mainstream," Whatnot chief revenue officer Armand Wilson said. "In year one, it was largely all collectibles. Now pretty much anyone can download Whatnot and find something for them."

The model draws comparisons to QVC, the television home shopping network that built its audience over decades. QVC is now live on TikTok for more than 200 hours per week across seven channels, according to the company, as it pivots toward digital following a recent emergence from bankruptcy. Patrick Nommensen, president of strategic initiatives for TikTok Shop in the Americas, described QVC as "a great example of a large established retailer that might have been seen as a competitor to TikTok Shop … but in fact they have turned out to be a really successful merchant."

For individual brands, the economics can be compelling. Beachwaver, a Chicago-area maker of a patented rotating curling iron, logged roughly $8,000 in sales during the first four hours of a single TikTok livestream in late July. The company has generated $1 million in TikTok Shop sales so far in 2026, with about a quarter of that total traced to livestreams.

Eric Pagan, who sells for brands on both TikTok and Whatnot, said awareness among brands remains limited. "I did a show on TikTok this weekend that was well into six figures," Pagan said in mid-August. "I think what brands are not aware of yet is that that exists."

Legacy marketplaces including Amazon, Walmart, and eBay operate their own live shopping features, though none disclosed sales figures. Mark Yuan, a former business development lead for eBay's live shopping division, said established platforms carry consumer trust that newer entrants cannot replicate — but that same structural history makes it difficult for them to become discovery-first or content-first environments.

The U.S. expansion still lags well behind China, where Alibaba introduced Taobao Live in 2016. That market crossed $50 billion within five years of launch and is projected to top $1.1 trillion in 2026, according to eMarketer. Neil Saunders, managing director at Globaldata, attributed the gap in part to American consumers' historic reliance on physical retail for product discovery — a behavior he said is shifting as younger shoppers migrate toward live commerce.

Whether U.S. platforms can sustain the current growth rate remains to be seen, particularly as sellers navigate platform fees and increasing competition for viewer attention.

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